A place for college basketball fans to be reminded that their opinions matter, and shouldn't be completely ignored by loud, obnoxious football-driven anarchy.

Monday, November 12, 2012

#TBIronMen for College Basketball's Opening Weekend

This will become a Monday staple here on TBI. I like to call it the #TBIronMen of the Week. Since all we have is three days of work to operate from, it's more like #TBIronMen of the Weekend.

What it is: a purely statistical look at the top 20 or so player performances of the week(end). Candidates are culled from the daily leaders at ESPN.com and their performances are weighted using the ESPN efficiency formula, which reads:

Anyone who records a 40-plus rating in the course of a game is a candidate, and all their linescores over the course of the week(end) will be examined. Players have to pack an overall average rating of 35 or better to be #TBIronMen candidates.

Players who have multiple 30-plus games will get precedence over guys with just one big game and some slow nights, even if the more consistent guys' averages don't quite measure up. The repeat studs will also get a five-point bonus to aid their ranking.

In addition, there are bonuses and deductions for team performance.

If a player's team loses, it's a five-point deduction unless that team is considered to be playing a paycheck game against a power program. Examples include Southern Utah's loss to Gonzaga and NJIT falling to Providence (although in the Friars' case, "power program" is used very loosely).

If a player is on a power team that loses what should be a paycheck game (see: Florida State vs. South Alabama), that's a 10-point deduction and pretty much screws his chances from the jump. Conversely, winning that kind of upset is grounds for a five-point bonus.

If your team is playing a non-Division I opponent, it's a three-point deduction even with a win. Grow a pair and play someone with a pulse. Lose to a non-D-I opponent (lol, Howard and Rice), and you can simply GTFO.

I keep including the hashtag in front of TBIronMen as a subtle hint. I won't ask you to plug your favorite players' linescores into the formula, but you can still feel free to tweet me, using that hashtag, or leave comments here nominating your favorite IronMen of the week(end). Because I'm a full-service blogger, I'll do the math for you, and we'll see how many deserving guys get left out.

I'll get into more detail as we go along, so click on past the jump and let's check out the inaugural top 20.

16. Jordan Bachynski, Arizona State, 44.55 rtg.(win vs. Central Arkansas: 17 pts., 12 reb., 9 blk., 3 TO, 8-10 FG, 1-3 FT)
UCA coach Corliss Williamson needed to borrow a time machine and get himself back to his prime, since that was about the only chance the Bears had of stopping Bachynski.

10. Alex Len, Maryland, 44.15 rtg.(loss to Kentucky: 23 pts., 12 reb., 4 blk., 10-18 FG, 0-1 3s, 3-4 FT)
Nerlens Noel and Willie Cauley-Stein be damned, Len was the best big man on the Barclays Center floor on Friday night. The size of the occasion, caliber of opposition and drama of the game meant I didn't have the heart to hit Alex with the loss deduction. Bless his borscht, he just balled too hard.

9. John Brown, High Point, 48.6 rtg.(win vs. UNC-Greensboro: 28 pts., 8 reb., 1 ast., 5 stl., 3 blk., 2 TO, 12-22 FG, 4-6 FT)
Allan Chaney got the feel-good headlines, but Brown was the engine driving High Point to a victory. He scored the first six points of the game for the Panthers and eight of the first 14 in the second half.

8. C.J. McCollum, Lehigh, 48.9 rtg.(loss to Baylor: 36 pts., 8 reb., 2 ast., 3 stl., 2 TO, 14-32 FG, 2-5 3s, 6-8 FT)
Again, C.J. was spared the loss deduction because Baylor...well, Baylor is already ranked and is also one of my preseason Final Four picks. He did have to strap that team to his back, but it's hard to hang when the rest of the team shoots less than 33%.

7. Nate Wolters, South Dakota State, 48.55 rtg.(loss at Alabama: 30 pts., 3 reb., 3 ast., 3 stl., 2 TO, 10-15 FG, 5-6 3s, 5-5 FT)
I could hear Matt Norlander groaning all the way from my house as Trevor Lacey's last-second bomb dropped to send the 'Rabbits home with the L. The Tide were all about defending the arc last season, which makes Nate's long-range efficiency all the more impressive. If his threes drop at even a 40% rate this season, he can lead the nation in scoring.

6. Isaiah Sykes, UCF, 48.4 rtg.(win at South Florida: 26 pts., 11 reb., 8 ast., 2 stl., 3 TO, 10-16 FG, 6-14 FT)
A near-trip-dub is nice. Getting one in a win over a studly defensive team that made last year's NCAA tournament is nicer. Getting one by sticking with a postseason-ineligible program when the exit door was wide-open? Absolutely fantastic. The Knights may miss MJ's kid as a ticket-selling curiosity, but if Sykes balls like this more often, they may not miss Marcus on the court at all.

4. Kevin Foster, Santa Clara, 51.6 rtg.(win vs. Simpson University: 27 pts., 4 reb., 9 ast., 3 stl., 1 blk., 9-17 FG, 7-15 3s, 2-2 FT)
Simpson U. got booted all the way back to Springfield as Foster put on a show for the Broncos. On a related note, Marge would make one hell of a center. You try shooting over that hair.

1. Dee Davis, Xavier, 54.25 rtg.(win vs. Fairleigh Dickinson: 22 pts., 4 reb., 15 ast., 1 stl., 3 TO, 8-11 FG, 5-7 3s, 1-1 FT)
Yes, FDU made the Washington Generals look like the 1968 Celtics on Friday night. Still, it was starting to look like Xavier wouldn't even have enough players to field a team. Davis made an emphatic statement that freshman savior Semaj Christon can take all the time he needs to get over his infected elbow. (Not really, since the Musketeers will need all hands on deck to face Butler tomorrow.)

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Once again, tweet me up @4QuartersRadio, and use #TBIronMen to let me know if I forgot somebody.

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The Culprit

Scott Henry is a national college basketball columnist for Bleacher Report. He comes here to write about the teams B/R won't pay him to cover (all 347 of them).

He's been a radio producer and host in Nashville, Tenn., including spending two seasons as a reporter for the Titans Radio Network. Before that, he hosted a nationally recognized college radio sports talk program called 4 Quarters.

Before you accuse him of being a homer for any program that isn't yours, keep in mind that he will only admit to being in the pocket for Purdue or Middle Tennessee State. If you want to accuse him of hating your program, though, feel free, since he has beef with any team that has douchebag fans, and accusing him of being a hater means that you certainly qualify.

Follow him on Twitter @4QuartersRadio for jokes of varying quality and links of varying interest to the college hoop fan.